Thor 2 Doth Findeth a New Directoreth

Having lost Kenneth Branagh, the director of the first “Thor”, Disney/Marvel have located a replacement: Irish TV director Brian Kirk, who has directed episodes of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”, “Game of Thrones”, and Showtime’s “Dexter” among his many TV credits.

Kirk is still in early talks to direct, but unless he suddenly decides he’d rather not advance his career past TVland, chances are it’s a done deal. “Thor 2″ would mark his Hollywood feature-film debut.

Don Payne, who scripted “Thor”, will return for the sequel, which is already set for July 26, 2013, a year after star Chris Hemsworth reprises the God of Thunder in Joss Whedon’s superhero team-up “The Avengers” in 2012. Hemsworth will, of course, do it one more time in “Thor 2″.

Shakespearean guy Kenneth Branagh was an “out of left field” choice to direct “Thor”, but against all odds, it actually worked out. One of the best things about “Thor” was the family drama, which I thought really played well, and helped to bring down to earth (as it were) the whole shiny armor/riding on a rainbow bridge (literally) elements of the film. Branagh was asked to helm the sequel, but declined. I guess he had laundry to do or somethin’.